DRIVER Cecil Tom

What we know about DRIVER Cecil Tom

Cecil Driver was born in Beer on 3 March 1890, one of the eight children of Robert Driver, a fisherman, and his wife Mary. All the members of the family were born in Beer, and they lived in Cemetery Lane.

Cecil joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 20 March 1912. His RNR record shows his height as 5ft 6ins, and states that he had blue eyes and a fair complexion. At the time he joined, he was living at 8 The Meadows.

On 6 June 1914 Cecil married Dorothy May Watts, who was also from Beer.

He was called up for war service only two months later, on 3 August 1914, and served on Defensively Armed Merchant Ships, merchant vessels which were fitted with guns armed by naval ratings. Unfortunately, Cecil’s RNR record does not show the names of any of the vessels on which he served, but it does tell us that he was demobilised from war service on 7 May 1919. He remained in the RNR until December 1931.